Customer Reviews

Songs of Joy & Peace

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

These days anthologies of a given leading musician with assorted guests are commonplace, and we have seen them in rock, jazz, blues, and even country. But Yo-Yo Ma is a classical musician who ventures far into other realms, from his Silk Road Project to Bossa Nova and Tango. Here is a stunning winter holiday album (not all strictly Christmas songs) where Ma makes music with major artists from around the world in unusual instrumental combinations. This album has excellent sound quality, as you would expect, but it is also an unusual 79 minutes long. The great jazz and Latin clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera appears on three tracks. Ma is joined with fiddle and bagpipes in support of an Alison Krauss vocal. Another Celtic combination, French Canadian, includes harp, piano, drums, and Natalie Macmaster on fiddle. Dave Brubeck and his cello-playing son Matt Brubeck appear; that is correct, two cellos. Cello and saxophone combine care of Joshua Redman, and how about cello and ukulele via Jake Shimabukuro! A work composed by Osvaldo Golijov brings together a sheng, santur, tabla, ney, kamancheh, shakuhachi, pipa, and Western strings of cello, violin, violas. Four different improvisations on Dona Nobis Pacem are interspersed among the tracks to help unite the recordings. And the jazz, Celtic, classical, rock, Latin, and pop tunes are all remarkably infused with holiday joy and Ma's sweet and sonorous cello. These fine and mellow pieces are not for dance parties but for enjoying the coziness, warmth, and peace of sitting with friends, viewing a fireplace or holiday lights, and tasting special food and drink. When you finish listening to this CD, expect to find a smile on your face and happiness in your heart.

Anyone who enjoys professional instrumentation should find something worthy on this CD. "Songs of Joy & Peace" begins with Yo-Yo Ma's expressive solo of "Dona Dobis Pacem (Give Us Peace)", which will later be the theme of 4 improvisations with various instrumentalists on this CD.

Diana Krall and James Taylor each offer us a nice vocal recording, both of which are mostly non-Christmas, except for a small improv on the piano from Krall before she kicks into the song. Renee Fleming's song seems to be below her normal standard of performance, but is still way above average. The Krall, Taylor and Fleming recordings seem slightly out of place for the theme of a holiday CD, but they all sing with romantic warmth, which makes the inclusion of these recordings more than acceptable.

A major highlight for me is Alison Krauss' beautiful recording of "The Wexford Carol", which is a traditional Irish Christmas carol. Her vocals are perfect and the song seems natural. "The Wexford Carol" is my absolute favorite vocal track on the CD for capturing the traditional passion of the holiday season. The tracks with Chris Botti are also major highlights. I am usually partial to the trumpet with its great melodic tones. (I played the trumpet in school.) Botti sounds really professional alongside Yo-Yo Ma on the cello. Christina Pato on the bagpipes is a nice celtic highlight.

My favorite instrumental track is "My One and Only Love", with Joshua Redman on the saxophone and Yo-Yo Ma on the cello. Yo-Yo shows the expressiveness that has made him famous, and Redman is just phenomenal. "My One and Only Love" is my favorite arrangement, only rivaling the wonderful rendition of "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" with Hawaiian Jake Shimabukuro on the ukulele. I was surprised at how expressive the little ukulele really can be, and the tone color is right on. But I must not forget the legendary Dave Brubeck. He records some wonderful instrumental holiday jazz with Matt Brubeck (his youngest son), and also with the entertaining Paquito D'Rivera on the clarinet.

The back of the CD states Yo-Yo's objective for this disc:
"Imagine a party, a musical party inspired by the holiday season. A party that celebrates the universal hopes, dreams and joy animating seasonal festivals the world over. That is what brought Yo-Yo Ma together with a remarkable group of friends - some old, some new - to create SONGS OF JOY & PEACE. It is Yo-Yo's hope that everyone who listens to this album will hear a song familiar, comfortable and beloved to them as well as discover and fall in love with music that is brand new."

In the end, Yo-Yo Ma did a decent job in achieving his objective, but I am still trying to imagine this musical party. I know very little about the Assad family from Brazil, but I enjoyed their "Familia" recording very much, and Sergio Assad's guitar recordings are right on. The Cuban clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera is a nice inclusion to the CD, with his professional quality instrumentation with the clarinet. Israeli pianist Alon Yavnai is also very professional, as well as Wu Tong, who sings while playing the traditional Chinese sheng. Overall, "Songs of Joy & Peace" includes musicians from America, Cuba, Canada, Galicia, Brazil, Israel, and China (the ethnic origin of Yo-Yo Ma).

In conclusion, it is clear that Yo-Yo Ma has more in mind than just a simple run-of-the-mill holiday album. I do not find Yo-Yo's ideas to be grandiose, but instead I look at it as an appeal for everyone to embrace the different qualities of each culture in this world. Yo-Yo has been trying to increase cultural literacy since 1999 with his Silk Road Project, which promotes "collaboration among artists and institutions, promoting multicultural artistic exchange, and studying the ebb and flow of ideas among different cultures along the Silk Road."

I will recommend "Songs of Joy & Peace" not only to Yo-Yo Ma fans, but also to fans of instrumentation in general. However, this CD is an eclectic collection, which sometimes makes the flow of the recordings seem ill-matched. I recommend sampling first. In the end, I feel the CD holds together nicely overall. "Songs of Joy & Peace" is certainly worth the price.

When I bought Yo-Yo-Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy & Peace, I missed entirely the holiday connection that much of the music has. It wasn't until I actually listened to the CD and heard "Joy to the World" featuring Dave Brubeck on track three that I looked at the cover again and saw a very eclectic but thematically strong collection of holiday music.

Songs of Joy & Peace is a wonderful CD. Yo Yo Ma is at his best on each of the tracks and gives his visiting artists full range. My favorite tracks include:

2. You Couldn't be Cuter with Diana Krall and John Clayton
4. Here Comes the Sun with James Taylor
6. The Wassail Song/All Through the Night with Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile
7. A Christmas Jig/Mouth of the Tobique Reel with Natalie McMaster
8. The Wexford Carol with Alison Krauss
10. Improvisation on Dona Nobis Pacem with Sérgio Assad and Odair Assad
16. Concordia with Dave Brubeck and Matt Brubeck
17. My Favorite Things with Chris Botti

Actually, this is unfair since I enjoyed the entire CD. I purchased the deluxe edition and have only viewed the 5 performances. There are other treasures yet to be explored.

Yo Yo Ma is a treasure and his ability to collaborate with other musicians from other fields and genre's of music is a treat for us all.

I'll leave the discussion about mixing and sound quality to others though it all sounded great to me.

Treat yourself.

Peace

I watched the bonus DVD first and learned so much about why each song was chosen and how the arrangements came to be. Yo-Yo Ma is an effervescent personality who exudes such love and joy himself, the artists loved working with him. Some were old friends, some new. The music is exceptionally beautiful, with an unexpected selection for the holidays.

A stunning recording! YoYo Ma has the ability to allow his cello to support so many other beautiful compositions and performers. No ego trip here, folks.

I must say that maybe I'm the only one that got the James Taylor interpretation of "Here Comes the Sun"? In fact, JT was dissed by at least one reviewer for his take on this Harrison classic. However, JT is one to re-invent many songs, and this was no exception. From the first spin through the lyrics, I heard "Here comes the Son"...."Son, Son, Son, here He comes"....indeed a Christmas song!

At a time of the year when everyone and their dog is releasing a collection of the same old same old, YoYo has the gumption to create something truly worth listening to and enjoying.

I usually buy one Christmas CD each year, and I was happy to see that Yo Yo Ma had put together a great compilation of songs. Then, I watched the 60 minute video that accompanies the deluxe version, and I realized what a treasure this really is - these artists are the best of the best, each one working with Yo Yo to achieve a perfect recording of a favorite song of Joy and Peace. This project was clearly one of love, and we are the happy beneficiaries -- this is one to keep for many years, and to give as a special gift to your closest music-loving friends.

This is a beautiful addition to any Christmas collection. Great dinner music,or all day as guests come and go. Also enjoyable driving home from work!

Yo-Yo Ma has brought together some of the most magnificent musicians throughout the world and created a perfect seasonal CD. Each song, as one would expect from Yo-Yo Ma, is rendered so sweet and smoothly. Music is mostly on for background for me but this CD caused me to stop in my tracks. I sat in the waning California sunlight and took in these gorgeous renditions of these classic songs.

Bravo and brava to Yo-Yo Ma and all musicians involved. Perfection.

Humble and grateful thanks from California, which is currently on fire.

What an amazingly generous gift. To start with, this collection's 22 songs and lasts 1.3 hours at a time when we're lucky to get more than 10 songs and 40 minutes.

Listing this CD as classical is somewhat of a misnomer. You've got a great mix of classical, traditional and contemporary songs here. No need to program a playlist, Yo Yo's a great DJ--just cork out the bubbly and your favorite treats and crank up the volume.

The tunes are all upbeat. You'll tap your foot to more than one of them and some may get you up on your feet and dancing.

"You Couldn't be Cuter" features Diana Krall doing a jazzy version of this tongue in cheek Christmas song. This one's definitely one that'll get you up on your feet--and how many of us can so relate to the lyrics?

"Joy to the World" has Dave Brubeck on the piano doing a fine tribute to Vince Guaraldi's style.

"My One and Only Love" with Joshua Redmon is a lovely slow jazz number that will have longtime couples and new lovers looking for the mistletoe.

I'm not as familiar with the classical additions. I admit, I've had this CD in my changer since I bought it and I keep going back to it in quiet moments. It, as well as Ma's "Silk Road" collections are family favorites.

If you like traditional Christmas with just a little flair of jazz and classical that won't upset the senior relatives, this CD's one you should add to your collection. Like me, you'll be thanking Ma for the lovely gift.

Rebecca Kyle, November 2008

I listened to this disc and was immediately captivated. Such a variety of wonderful artists with music familiar and unfamiliar, a celebration of the holiday season unlike anything else I have. Indeed, it has led me to purchase CD's from some of the artists incl. Chris Botti, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile, Diana Krall, and Joshua Redman. I shall surely be looking for works by some of the others as well. I paticularly liked the variations on Dona Nobis Pacem. I will listen to this often.